NEW London GAA senior football manager Ciaran Deely admits the lure of finishing off what he started with his predecessor Paul Coggins was too tough to turn down.
The Wexford native was part of Coggins’ backroom staff during the 2015 inter-county season before leaving the set-up in August to take up a four-month contract working in India with professional soccer side Kerala Blasters.
Deely was ratified at London GAA’s November County Board meeting last week and will return to London next month to resume his ties with the senior side, but he admits he had other professional options that he could have pursued.
“It was an interesting one because the option of staying out here in India or maybe doing a bit of work further afield in Asia was there for me,” he told The Irish Post.
“I didn’t always intend to come back to London GAA but then I got chatting to Paul Coggins and he told me he was stepping aside, so at that point I started to think about coming back and trying to finish off the good work we did last year.
“It’s been a fantastic four-month experience here and a nice contrast in terms of life experience, but also for my professional career in that I’ve been heavily involved in sports science here.
“It’s very different to coaching and managing in Gaelic football – two different sports for a start – but I quite like that contrasting change, and this role with London suits what I want to do.”
Although Deely is already working behind the scenes on his new role, he’s left Brian McBrearty (Tir Chonaill Gaels) and Paddy Curtin (Round Towers) to do the hands-on activities as London get back into training, but he can’t wait to return to the physical work himself in December.
“I’m really looking forward to getting back and working with the lads again – they’re a great group,” he added.
“Me and Paul said numerous times how we’d love to see this group of lads do really well because they work hard and deserve it, so hopefully we’ll get a chance to do that.”
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